


The Music in Our Heart

by anxious_logic



Series: Soulmate September 2020 [16]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Musician Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Musician Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Musician Logic | Logan Sanders, Musician Morality | Patton Sanders, Nonbinary Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Nonbinary Logic | Logan Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_logic/pseuds/anxious_logic
Summary: Roman is surprised out of his violin practice one day when he hears another violin joining him. Soon, he finds out that he fills out a soulbond of a string quartet.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton
Series: Soulmate September 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907686
Comments: 14
Kudos: 100





	The Music in Our Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmate September Day 16: When your soulmate listens to music or is singing, you hear it in your own head as well. (I also made it so that any music you play on an instrument, your soulmate hears too.)
> 
> Links to the pieces they play are in the end notes for those who are interested!
> 
> Warnings: Patton and Virgil both have some negative thoughts but they recognize them as such.

Roman opened his violin case, absentmindedly humming his most recent concerto to himself. As he put his shoulder rest on the back of the violin, he was surprised to hear the first violin part joining into what he was playing.

_Holy crap._

That would be his soulmate, wouldn’t it? And not only were they familiar with music, they appeared to know the specific part to the concerto, meaning that they were probably also a musician – a violin, given what part they knew.

Roman shook himself out of his thoughts, and quickly ruffled through the sheet music taking up most of the bookshelf. He picked out a violin duet – Bach – and began playing one of the parts.

His soulmate joined in with the other part after about a minute of playing. Roman could hear some mistakes and pauses, so it was probably something that they were playing themselves.

As they continued to play the rest of the duet, Roman felt a smile breaking out on his face. This would be fun.

***

Patton sighed as he put down his violin, frowning at the music in front of him. He hadn’t looked at this piece for a long time, and it showed. He’d missed so many of the accidentals…

Oh well. It was okay. His soulmate didn’t seem to care – they made it to the end together regardless.

He thought back to the concerto that his soulmate had been humming to themselves. It was probably something that they were working on – Patton knew that when he started a new piece, it got stuck in his head for _weeks._ Well, either weeks or until he got sick of practicing that one spot over and over to make it perfect.

Patton shook his head to himself. _Focus._ He would practice this piece after his soulmate was done with their practice, and he would make it perfect.

***

Virgil started in surprise as they suddenly heard a violin echo at the highest reaches of their range of hearing.

“Ow,” they muttered, but it didn’t actually hurt. They were more surprised than anything else, to be honest – most of the time, soulmates weren’t introduced with a note that high suddenly inserting itself into one’s head.

They put down their viola, tilting their head to listen more closely to their soulmate. It sounded like somebody practicing – so probably either their soulmate played violin, or they were listening to someone else practicing. Virgil was impressed by the skill in the piece – they didn’t know a lot about violin, since they hadn’t played since fourth or fifth grade, but they knew enough to know that the piece was impressive. Maybe only technically demanding in some spots, but still difficult and fun to listen to.

Suddenly, they were jolted out of their thoughts by another instrument joining into the music going through their head. It was another violin, it sounded like, and apparently the other person in their head could hear it too, as the previous music stopped. Then it started up again, harmonizing with the second violin to make a duet.

Virgil decided to find out if these people were in the same room as each other and only one of them was their soulmate, or if they were duetting through the bond. As they ruffled through their orchestra music to find a good piece, they tried to push away the thoughts in their head.

_You’re making this up._

_You’re not special enough to have a soulmate._

_You know you can’t be loved._

They forcefully played the first few measures of the piece they had picked out, hearing both of the violins in their head stop suddenly. So they were both their soulmates, then.

They quickly played a scale, starting on their lowest string so that their soulmates would be aware of the fact that they played a _viola,_ thanks very much, not a _violin._ When they finished, they heard two responding scales, confirming the fact that the other two were both violinists.

They rolled their eyes slightly, but smiled through it.

They could deal with the viola jokes. They’d been thinking up responses for _years._

***

Logan put down zir bow as ze finished playing zir most recent piece. Ze frowned as ze leaned forward to correct a fingering and note a few accidentals that ze had missed.

Suddenly, ze was interrupted by a viola playing a familiar piece – not the same one, but one that Logan knew quite well. Ze was surprised by the music, but decided to play along; zir soulmate deserved to know that Logan actually could play, and see if zir soulmate was just listening to music or actually playing it.

The music paused for a minute as Logan synced up, but then continued. So this was actually zir soulmate playing.

As ze and zir soulmate finished their piece, ze heard another piece start up. This time it was two violins playing together. Logan frowned, confused. Did ze have four soulmates? Two, and one was playing a duet? Only the one, who was listening to a piece now?

Logan picked up zir bow, experimentally interrupting the duet. One of the violins stopped before the other, but they both stopped relatively quickly after Logan’s interruption.

So ze had three soulmates. This could be something ze could navigate.

***

Roman frowned as he came upon a stray page of string quartet music in his sheet music bookshelf. He absentmindedly began humming his part, thinking of the other three parts weaving in and out of the first violin’s melody line. He was surprised to hear another person humming along. It sounded like the viola part, but he couldn’t be certain.

He was surprised when a recording of the same piece began playing in his head. It seemed that it wasn’t the viola who was playing it, as they were still humming along to their part.

Suddenly, he heard the second violin very quietly join in, hesitantly plucking every few notes.

It seemed that they might be able to make a quartet out of their soulbond.

***

Patton grinned as he printed out the music for the quartet that his soulmates had started playing. His teacher had been suggesting that he look at the quartet for a chamber group he had thought about joining, so he was at least familiar with what the piece sounded like. He was so excited – the four of them might be able to find each other with the quartet!

He bit his lip nervously as the music finished printing out. This piece wasn’t too hard on its own, exactly, but- the recording that had played was… pretty fast, wasn’t it?

Patton shook the doubts out of his head. He’d just have to practice and work on increasing the tempo. Then he’d be able to play it with everyone else.

***

Virgil grinned as they heard a violin slowly practicing a run of notes. It sounded like it was a part of the quartet their collective soulbond had chosen to work on together – probably the second violin, based on the pitch of the notes. They’d heard that soulmate practicing a lot, recently; usually the quartet, but sometimes the duet that they had played with the other violin. Virgil was a little worried that their soulmate would overwork themselves, but they had to trust that they knew what they were doing.

When their soulmate had stopped playing for about ten minutes, they got out their viola, ready to practice both their orchestra music and their quartet. And if their soulmates decided to turn it into a group rehearsal? Well, they definitely wouldn’t complain.

***

Logan let out a rare grin as ze finished running through the quartet. Ze had joined the soulbond’s first violin in practicing the group’s piece. It had been a unique experience being able to practice with different members of the group; Logan thought that ze probably had a better grasp on how zir part fit in with everyone else’s. It had been an experience that ze wanted to replicate again, if at all possible.

Suddenly, ze heard the second violin play a scale, switching to an arpeggio after a few runs up and down the violin. The viola joined in.

A group rehearsal sounded… quite enjoyable for today.

***

Roman had decided to practice outside today. He was in the middle of a park, with relatively few people passing by him. He knew it was a bit strange to play outside, especially when his pieces were less-than-perfect, but he didn’t really care. It was nice, sometimes, to hear his pieces in a different space.

Suddenly, he realized that there was someone who had been watching him for the last few minutes as he played through his piece. He put his violin down, raising his hand to greet the other person.

“Hello, can I do anything for you?” Roman called out. They came closer. They were wearing a black polo shirt, a blue striped tie, and a galaxy-printed skirt.

“Possibly. I am Logan, I use ze/zir pronouns. I was just wondering… by any chance, are you in a soulbond with another violinist, a violist, and a cellist?”

Roman paused, taking the other person in. “I… yes. May I ask how you knew?” Roman had a feeling he knew how ze had known, but he wanted it confirmed.

“You may. I am in a soulbond with two violinists and a violist, and one of the violinists is playing pieces identical to the ones you were practicing today. I noticed that they were echoing in my head, and I wanted to confirm my suspicions.”

Roman grinned, switching his violin and bow to the same hand to he could leave the other hand available for a handshake. Logan took it, a small smile spreading across zir face.

“I look forward to getting to know you.”

***

Patton had noticed that the cellist and the other violinist of their group had started playing duets together. He was happy to listen to the music; he enjoyed what they picked out. He was relatively sure that they had met in person, and were nitpicking the pieces together; the small pieces of duet that were played over and over together were a pretty big indicator of that.

He had to constantly remind himself, with the help of his therapist, that just because they met first didn’t mean that he was any less than them or less meant for them. It just meant that they were in the same place at the same time, and one of them was listening to or playing music that was easily recognizable.

He was working on it.

Patton was taking a break from his schoolwork, walking around the block a few times to get himself fresh air. He had gotten frustrated with the assignment, so had decided to give himself a little time to reset.

He was bobbing his head along to something that one of his soulmates was listening to – something by Panic! at the Disco, he was pretty sure. It was always funny trying to figure out who was listening to what; he was pretty sure that this was the cellist listening to this, but he wasn’t positive.

Suddenly, he ran into somebody on the sidewalk, knocking them down.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” he said, putting his hand out to help the other person up. They took it and stood up, pulling their earbud out of their ear. The music that Patton heard through the bond suddenly got much quieter. He could hear it playing distantly through the earbud. His eyes widened.

“Oh my goodness.”

The other person looked at him weirdly. Patton scrambled to explain.

“No, it’s just that- well. I think maybe you’re one of my soulmates?”

The other person’s eyes widened. “I- wow. Um. Okay. Uh- Wow. Wasn’t expecting this.” They fidgeted with their earbuds, wrapping them around his hands and pulling them through his fingers. “Um. I play viola? I have two violinist soulmates and a cellist?”

Patton squealed, bouncing on his toes. “Yes! I’m a violin, I have a violin and a cello too! And you’re the viola, I guess?”

The other person smiled a little bit. “Yeah, I guess. My name’s Virgil. They/them pronouns.”

Patton grinned. “Patton, he/him.”

Virgil tilted their head. “Can I ask- do you play the same part all of the time? Or do you play first on one piece and second on the other? Or how does that work?”

Patton offered a hand so that they could walk together on the sidewalk. Virgil shyly took it, interlacing their hands. “I play second, most of the time. Sometimes in orchestra I play first, or in chamber when someone’s gone, but for our stuff I’m on second.”

Virgil nodded, seeming to take note of the information.

“Do you like it?”

Patton tilted his head. “It’s easier than working out all of those notes in the stratosphere, for sure. And I like listening to all the high notes, and helping the whole piece come together.”

Virgil squeezed his hand. “See, I thought that was why people switched to viola.”

“No way am I doing that. All of the viola jokes? No thanks.”

Virgil ducked their head. “Eventually, you get used to them. You even start to think of comebacks to rag on the violins.”

“Really?”

“What’s the difference between a violin and a viola?”

Patton hesitated. “…I don’t know, what?”

“There isn’t one. Violinists’ heads are just bigger.”

Patton burst out laughing. Virgil smiled proudly to himself, looking at the sidewalk. He could see how he would come to love Patton.

***

Virgil squeezed Patton’s hand where it was interlaced with theirs, swinging their hands between the two of them. Patton grinned at them.

“Can I kiss your cheek?” Patton asked. Virgil wasn’t comfortable with a lot of PDA, but sometimes they were okay with smaller shows of affection. They knew that Patton would only ask if he really wanted to, but he would also accept a negative answer.

“That’s fine,” they said. Patton let out an excited noise, leaning over to gently peck Virgil on the cheek. They blushed but held on to Patton’s hand even tighter.

Patton bounced his head along to the beat in his head. Virgil noticed that their steps had unknowingly synced to the beat as well. They tilted their head, trying to listen to the song a little closer.

“That sounds like something from a musical,” Patton said, trying and failing to find the melody line to hum along. Virgil snapped their fingers in recognition.

“Yes. It’s from Wicked – Defying Gravity, I think. I’ve never heard it sung by a lower voice, but I like the way it sounds.”

Patton let out a quiet _ohhhh._ Suddenly, Virgil realized that they were also hearing the song outside of their head.

“Hey, Patton?”

“Yeah?” He looked curiously at Virgil.

“Is it just me, or do you hear that in real life too?”

Patton stopped walking, listening for a moment. A wide smile spread across his face. “Let’s go find it!”

***

Logan watched Roman to cue the rest of the quartet in. As Roman settled his violin on his shoulder and his bow on the strings, the other three did the same.

Roman cued the group to start, and Virgil and Patton began to play, a steady beat that set the tempo for the piece. Logan joined in, lower plucked notes adding to the texture of the piece. Roman’s higher, fluttery notes were the last part of the puzzle, rounding out the quartet.

Logan looked around at zir soulmates over zir music, seeing them playing their instruments together, feeling a love rush through zir limbs that ze didn’t know was possible.

**Author's Note:**

> [Roman’s concerto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yteXc85mK_Y)  
> (he plays the first movement, until about 8:07 in this recording)  
> [The duet Roman and Patton play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm6XvKBp1e4)  
> [Logan’s solo piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5U62RPySYY)  
> [The piece Virgil plays that Logan hears](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wISN_hJSCPE)  
> (the first movement, until 2:40); Logan joins playing the same thing on cello  
> [The quartet the four play together](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxtAHpYIXdU) (specifically, the last movement, starting at 20:00)
> 
> Leave a comment/kudos if you liked this?
> 
> I'm also on tumblr @anxious-logic!


End file.
